Neely's POV:
Seeing Lucy's face fall as Harry waved to her, I coughed before we sat down.
"Are you okay?"
"Why did you lie?" she whispered.
"About what?"
"The shirt."
"What shirt? What are you talking about?" I scoffed, hoping no one could hear us.
"The shirt that Coach Styles has on is the exact same shirt you said was Collin's." Oh shit.
"Lucy, I-"
"Are you sleeping with him?" she asked with a low tone.
"No. I had spilt coffee o-on my shirt and he saw me and gave me an extra one he had handy," I lied, my breathing accelerating. Lucy was known for not being able to keep her mouth shut.
"Don't bullshit a bullshitter, Neely. That's his shirt and there's something going on between you two."
"Lucy, I'm begging you. Please don't tell anyone," I felt hot tears forming in my eyes.
"My dad would flip shit if he found out."
"You can't tell your dad. You can't tell anyone."
"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?"
"You're the principal's daughter. What am I supposed to do? Broadcast it on the radio that I'm in love with my coach?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
"I'm just hurt that you kept it from me," she sighed.
"We don't talk that much anymore. That's the only reason I didn't tell you. I was going to tell you when the time was right, but it never seemed to be." I was never going to tell her. She's mouth of the south and that's partly why nobody ever tells her any real gossip. This wasn't gossip. This was my relationship and Harry's job on the line.
"I'm still pissed that you lied, but I won't tell anyone. You covered for me when I got drunk at Tyler's party."
"Thank you Lucy," I sighed with relief.
"Do you really love him? It's not just sex?"
"It's so much more than that. We have a deep connection," I skirted around. What she says and what she does can be two very different things.
"Okay. I'm happy if you're happy," she sighed.
"I'm more than happy. I'm madly in love with my best friend." Looking down at him as he watched the game looking as if he were in a trance, Lucy giggled.
"What?"
"Is he good in bed?" she whispered, blushing slightly.
"Lucy!" I giggled, feeling a blush now rising to my cheeks.
"I wanna know."
"Do you really?"
"Yeah."
"He's better than good."
"Is it like 50 Shades?" she asked eagerly.
"Oh hell no," I grimaced. "No, no, no. We have fun, but not that kind of fun. It's normal fun."
"Have y'all tried shower? It's amazing."
"That was what we did the first time we actually did it," I gushed, unable to fight the grin that spread across my face.
"You're bad!" she teased, hitting my shoulder.
"Oh shut up, you've banged half the school."
"So?" she shrugged. "Is he big?"
"Lucy!"
"I wanna know. He's got a great ass and he's tall as fuck. Is he the same height through and through?"
Rolling my eyes, I clamped them shut and nodded.
"I knew it! Jessica owes me five bucks."
"What?" I laughed, feeling a pang of jealousy knife through me.
"Me and a couple girls made bets. No biggie," she shrugged.
"That's my boyfriend. It's a biggie to me."
"Well, I'll tell them he has a lady friend as I collect the easiest $30 I've ever made."
"With your clothes on."
"True."
Four more games passed before we headed back to the locker room as a team to change. Everyone was quiet, listening to music as they dressed, my headphones stuffed into my ears as I adjusted my headband. Sighing as the music stopped and we filed our way back into the gym, I carefully analyzed the other team as we stretched. Sighing in relief as they only had one post player even close to my height, I took a deep breath and Harry called me over.
"The shorter girl, 44 will pull out a spin move on you a lot. Stay low and just show big. Don't fall for any up and under either," he said quietly.
"Okay," I nodded. Starting our warmup, I waved to Louis in the stands, laughing as he rolled his eyes and waved back. Going into a huddle at the 1:30 mark, I could feel the energy buzzing around us.
"Alright ladies, we've got height, speed, skill and the will to win this game. Let's do this," Harry said firmly as we all raised our hands and shouted in unison. Walking to center court, I could tell the girl across from me knew she wasn't going to get the ball.
"I got 35 on defense, Catherine, you got 44," I said, looking around at the other six girls on the court. The game began and it was 22-18 by the end of the first quarter. Going into halftime, I was drenched in sweat and the score was 47-39.
"Alright ladies, let's keep it up. I'm gonna bring everyone out but Neely and Catherine because they're doing really great things defensively in the paint and we need that," Harry breathed, seeming to stand up a little taller.
"We're gonna turn up the heat a little bit and put all of our tall players out there. Neely, Catherine, Dana, Meredith, Sarah Beth, I need all of you to play big. Meredith, you can handle the ball, so you'll be point. Catherine, Neely, stay as posts, Dana and Sarah Beth, let's open the bank." My adrenaline was again buzzing. There was no way we were going to lose this game. With Dana and Sarah Beth's shooting percentages, we'd just opened a whole new can of worms.
By the games end, we had won 82-48 and I felt like I had just gotten out of the shower.
"We play again at 6:30. If you want to go get some food with your parents, you're more than welcome to, but make sure to be back here by 5 o'clock." Changing back into my regular clothes, I sighed as I walked out of the locker room, still feeling sweat trickling down my back. The gym was packed as boys played and I spotted Louis among the crowd again, walking up to him.
"Great job!" he exclaimed, hugging me tightly and kissing my cheek. People around us were looking at us weird and I simply shrugged them off.
"Thanks," I smiled widely as Harry waved to us, motioning us toward him. Walking out into the cold air, Lucy smiled widely at me from her car and rolled down her window.
"Great job, girl!"
"Thanks."
"Do y'all play again?" she asked, rubbing her hands together.
"6:30."
"See you then," she beamed.
"Thank God you drove Harry's car, Lou. That bus is too big," I laughed as I tossed my stuff in the front seat and climbed in the back with Harry. Leaning my head against his shoulder, I closed my eyes and soon felt his lips press to my temple.
"You hungry, baby?" he asked quietly and I nodded.
"Where do you wanna go?"
"Zaxbys," I suggested, wanting nothing more than to eat and go to sleep.
"Okay."
"It's about 30 minutes from here," Louis said from the front seat.
"That's fine," I shrugged.
"Sleep,beautiful," Harry murmured. I curled up, my head on his lap and quickly fell asleep.
---------------------------
Waking up to eat, I sleepily followed Harry and Louis through the cold and inside the restaurant, Harry ordering for me. Barely eating my chicken, I got a to-go box and decided to save it. By the time we got back to the car, it was only 3:45 and I dozed off and on throughout the drive back. Getting back in the gym, I clung to Louis, trying to keep myself upright.
The crowd had thinned and there was enough space on the bleachers for me to stretch out and go back to sleep. Laying my head on Louis, I fell back asleep only to be woken up every time the buzzer went off. Pushing my headphones in my ears, I turned on Ed Sheeran and managed to fall back into a deep sleep.
Someone was shaking my shoulder and my eyes opened. Light burned into them and I re-closed them, trying to wake up.
"They're going to change, love," Louis laughed.
"What time is it?" I groaned, sitting up from his lap.
"5:58."
"Thanks for letting me use you as a pillow."
"No problem, love. Go kick some arse." Standing up and slightly waving as I made my way behind Meredith, I sighed and remained quiet as I changed. Getting through warmups and the start of the game, we were up by 36 at halftime and continuer our run; beating them by 51 points. I was exhausted. I felt like I had gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather back to back. Riding back on the bus, I fought to stay awake and succeeded until I hit the warm leather seats of Harry's car.
Hey guys! Just wanna thank you for all the reads, comments and votes. It really means so much and it's awesome that y'all like this story. So, I'm thinking about maybe doing a contest... Let me know if you guys would be interested. Keep commenting, voting, and sharing.
Much love.xx